Peter is the everyman of the Gospels, the sympathetic character whose
shoes we often find would fit our own feet with ease. He makes bold
proclamations often and is just as often rebuked by Jesus; in the
Gospel reading today Peter almost seems to be engaging in gossip and we
can almost imagine an exasperated Jesus giving a glib reply just so the
apostle will settle down.
Yet in spite of his human failings, Jesus loved and trusted Peter so
much that he made him the Rock on which the Church was founded. What
defines Peter is not the fact that he fell so many times, but the fact
that he got up each time and tried again. Peter is proof that the
essence of being a Christian is not perfection, but a desire to follow
in Jesus’ footsteps, no matter how often we stumble or sink into the
water.
